State officials filed the complaint against the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
At issue is a cease-and-desist demand letter FFRF sent to Achille Public Schools last December over a policy that allows students to say prayers during morning announcements.
The state says those denied prayer will suffer an irreparable injury if they are not allowed to pray….by contrast, FFRF cannot show any harm whatsoever, should an injunction be granted.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters vowed in a statement that “Oklahoma will never be bullied by radical, out-of-state atheists who use intimidation and harassment against kids.”
Walters told a tv station in Oklahoma City, “The Freedom From Religion Foundation has no stake in our schools, no authority over our communities, and absolutely no right to trample on the First Amendment. Their threats are nothing more than a desperate attempt to erase faith from public life, and we will fight them at every turn.”
Last year, FFRF pressure successfully halted a practice of allowing Christian prayers at a Christmas play held at a Depew, Oklahoma public elementary school.
And Last month, the Oklahoma Supreme Court temporarily blocked the state education department from purchasing 55,000 Bibles for public schools.